Former Rampagers Still Playing Hockey

Nice to see some familiar faces still stickhandling around the NHL and the AHL these days.

I forgot former SA defenseman Lukas Kraijcek ended up in Philly to play with the Flyers this season. After his two-plus seasons in the Alamo City from 2002-05, the former Florida Panthers first round pick, 22nd overall, has patrolled the backline for the Panthers, Vancouver, Tampa Bay and now the Flyers. All told, the offensive minded defenseman has played 328 NHL games and scored 11 goals and 61 assists.

A former teammate, goaltender Brent Krahn, helped the Texas Stars to a first-round sweep of the Rockford IceHogs but has his hands full with the Chicago Wolves, who have a 2-1 series lead over the Austin team. Krahn has a 2.18 GAA in 8 playoff games for Texas.

Scott Wray, who had a brief stint in San Antonio with the Iguanas during the 1998-99 Miron Cup playoffs, scored the Cup clinching goal for the second year Rapid City Rush last night. Wray scored a goal and two assists in 8 post-season games that year for Todd Gordon and the Iggies in their rebound-from-the-dung-heap season. Who did Rapid City beat? The Allen Americans, a first-year CHL club just north of Dallas.

Boston goaltender Tuuka Rask, who has sent all-star teammate Tim Thomas to the Bruins bench, was 1-1 against the Rampage in 2008-09 while skating with the Providence Bruins of the AHL.

On AT&T Center ice, Rask was nearly unstoppable, beating the Rampage 5-1 on Nov. 1. Garth Murray was the only San Antonio skater to light the lamp against Rask, who is now 7-2 in his first trip to the Stanley Cup playoffs in the Bruins’ net.

The Rampage got a measure of revenge on their Rodeo Roadie that February, stomping on the Baby B’s by the same 5-1 score on Feb, 13. That was the night Kyle Turris came up with his first two Rampage goals in his debut in a Rampage uniform after his demotion from Phoenix. The wonderful AHL schedule-maker did in the Herd that weekend, as the Rampage had to play in Quad Cities the next night. That Providence-Moline, Illinois trek resulted in a 7-3 gimme for the home town Flames, including a six-goal outburst in the second period.

Murray by the way has a goal and two assists in 10 AHL playoff games this post-season with Abbotsford. The Heat is down 2-1 to Hamilton in round two after getting by Rochester in the first round.

Olivier Latendresse, who was pretty much invisible during his on again-off again San Antonio experience, has a goal for the Heat in seven games.

David Shantz, who the Panthers picked in the second round in 2004 but never did play here, is the go-to masked man for the Heat, playing in all 10 games thus far with a 2.78 GAA.

Rampage fans might want to choke down the tears as they watch former SA players, Simon Ferguson, Kyle Wilson, Grant McNeill, and Bryan Helmer helping Hershey get into the Eastern Conference finals.

While defenseman Joe Callahan, who made his NHL debut with the New York Islanders last season and scored four goals in 35 regular season games with Worcester, will face the Bears in the Eastern finals. The former Yale blueliner has three NHL assists in 18 games, 17 with New York and one with San Jose in his only game on the West Coast this season.

Former Coyotes bad boy Daniel Carcillo is behaving himself in Philadelphia, just missing on a breakaway in overtime against the Bruins in Game 2.